“Barring al-Lahem from travel only highlights the severe and arbitrary limits to basic freedoms and fairness in the kingdom,” Christoph Wilcke, senior researcher on Saudi Arabia at HRW said.

I hope these calls will not fall on deaf ears, and I hope to see our two local human rights organizations make a statement, not just on behalf of al-Lahem, but also for all activists who has been working to promote the culture of citizens’ rights. It has been almost four years since the travel ban was imposed on the lawyer who has shown exceptional courage in his relentless effort to defend human rights in the Kingdom. Once again, it is about time.

He certainly deserves to be awarded, but here comes the sad part: he will not be able to receive the award in person during a conference held in Vienna in July unless a four-year-old travel ban imposed on him by the authorities here is lifted.